Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
On Sun, 2004-05-09 at 21:16, Kurth Bemis wrote: We have several servers, (OK lots of servers) that we use for hosting websites, mail servers, firewalls, and billing and provisioning. It's a real pain to ssh to each of the boxen and repeat the same process again and again to upgrade apache,php,mod_perl,mod_ssl, system files, etc. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a tool that will allow me to create one master machine or image that can then be duplicated to the other machines, so that all the machines are exact copies of each other. The config and users files are on separate partitions then the binaries so that's not an issue. The solution needs to scalable, as we are adding machines every other week it seems. I can't remember the name of the software, and I'm not even sure that it is available anymore, but VA Software, back when they were VA Linux had a deployment system for just this purpose. You built a Golden System and a Golden Server. The Golden System was built out exactly the way you wanted it. The golden server ran VA's software, and it monitored the golden system for changes. On all of the other machines, you installed a small agent. If the golden system changed, then the golden server would send out the information to all of the agents and update them. You could also put a new box on the network and it would install itself from the golden server. It was meant for rapid deployment in changing environments. Any of the VA Software people out there remember this software? C-Ya, Kenny signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
On Sun, 2004-05-09 at 21:16, Kurth Bemis wrote: We have several servers, (OK lots of servers) that we use for hosting websites, mail servers, firewalls, and billing and provisioning. It's a real pain to ssh to each of the boxen and repeat the same process again and again to upgrade apache,php,mod_perl,mod_ssl, system files, etc. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a tool that will allow me to create one master machine or image that can then be duplicated to the other machines, so that all the machines are exact copies of each other. The config and users files are on separate partitions then the binaries so that's not an issue. The solution needs to scalable, as we are adding machines every other week it seems. I can't remember the name of the software, and I'm not even sure that it is available anymore, but VA Software, back when they were VA Linux had a deployment system for just this purpose. You built a Golden System and a Golden Server. The Golden System was built out exactly the way you wanted it. The golden server ran VA's software, and it monitored the golden system for changes. On all of the other machines, you installed a small agent. If the golden system changed, then the golden server would send out the information to all of the agents and update them. You could also put a new box on the network and it would install itself from the golden server. It was meant for rapid deployment in changing environments. I wonder if it's cfengine? cfengine lets you have several classes of systems. They pull thier configs from a central server modify themselves to that class. Any of the VA Software people out there remember this software? C-Ya, Kenny ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
This looks like the ideal solution. I like the fact that I can see each machine, and the build status. After looking around his site, I found a lot of useful tools, so I wget'ed a local copy for myself! Thank you for suggesting this tool. Chris Brenton wrote: On Sun, 2004-05-09 at 21:16, Kurth Bemis wrote: It's a real pain to ssh to each of the boxen and repeat the same process again and again to upgrade apache,php,mod_perl,mod_ssl, system files, etc. Why not use Bill Stearn's fanout? http://www.stearns.org/ Just run the command once and its executed on as many systems as you need. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a tool that will allow me to create one master machine or image that can then be duplicated to the other machines, so that all the machines are exact copies of each other. Try rsync-mirror, also located on Bill's site. HTH, Chris ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
On Mon, 2004-05-10 at 10:29, Kurth Bemis wrote: After looking around his site, I found a lot of useful tools, so I wget'ed a local copy for myself! Ya its pretty amazing the wealth of Linux tools that Bill has come up with. Its one of the few sites I pull down to my cellphone every day (just the homepage) so I have a handy list of what he has available. For those who don't know him, Bill is a local Linux guy that lives up by Dartmouth. He's an absolute guru (although he will deny it adamantly) and has contributed *a lot* to the Linux community in general. His site is a must bookmark for anyone managing Linux systems. Again, the URL is: http://www.stearns.org/ I'm pretty sure Bill also haunts this list so I'm sure he's turning beat red by me singing his praises. :) kiss kiss Bill, ;-) Chris ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
Good afternoon, Kurth, Chris, all, On Mon, 10 May 2004, Chris Brenton wrote: On Mon, 2004-05-10 at 10:29, Kurth Bemis wrote: After looking around his site, I found a lot of useful tools, so I wget'ed a local copy for myself! It's obviously available. I might suggest that since the site as crossed the 1G mark recently you might not want to do this hourly. *smile* I do have an rsync server available for all (*) the files at: zaphod.stearns.org::wstearns/ . A command as simple as: rsync -av --progress --partial --exclude archives \ zaphod.stearns.org::wstearns/ /path/to/mirrordir/ Should get the site if you really want the whole thing. (* The only dir not in that mirror is /uml-root/ , but even that should end up in the mirror build script at some point) Ya its pretty amazing the wealth of Linux tools that Bill has come up with. Its one of the few sites I pull down to my cellphone every day (just the homepage) so I have a handy list of what he has available. For those who don't know him, Bill is a local Linux guy that lives up by Dartmouth. He's an absolute guru (although he will deny it adamantly) And vehemently! *smile* and has contributed *a lot* to the Linux community in general. His site is a must bookmark for anyone managing Linux systems. Again, the URL is: http://www.stearns.org/ I'm pretty sure Bill also haunts this list so I'm sure he's turning beat red by me singing his praises. :) kiss kiss Bill, ;-) LOL! If any of the groups on this list would like, I have some presentations I'd be happy to give to a user group meeting. I've got presentations on ssh, spam filtering with spamassassin, and many others up at http://www.stearns.org/doc/ . Cheers, - Bill --- I prefer something slightly more melodious; like the long, drawn out death rattle of a man suffering from terminal flatulence. -- Lister (Courtesy of Mike Ledoux [EMAIL PROTECTED]) -- William Stearns ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Mason, Buildkernel, freedups, p0f, rsync-backup, ssh-keyinstall, dns-check, more at: http://www.stearns.org -- ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
Never used it, but is: http://www.systemimager.org/ What you're looking for? In any case, whatever you end up using would probably make for a good LUG presentation ... *poke poke* 8) -- So, make a real effort to avoid getting sucked into all the expensive lifestyle habits of typical Americans. Because if you do that, then people with the money will dictate what you do with your life. -- Richard Stallman Cole Tuininga Lead Developer Code Energy, Inc [EMAIL PROTECTED] PGP Key ID: 0x43E5755D ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
Kurth Bemis wrote: We have several servers, (OK lots of servers) that we use for hosting websites, mail servers, firewalls, and billing and provisioning. It's a real pain to ssh to each of the boxen and repeat the same process again and again to upgrade apache,php,mod_perl,mod_ssl, system files, etc. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a tool that will allow me to create one master machine or image that can then be duplicated to the other machines, so that all the machines are exact copies of each other. The config and users files are on separate partitions then the binaries so that's not an issue. The solution needs to scalable, as we are adding machines every other week it seems. Any ideas? Not what you asked for, but this is what we do. (In our case, most of the systems are not exactly the same, but share common programs.) We use Mandrake. We use URPMI and a few cron jobs to distribute updates to our clients and our in-house systems. This doesn't help if you are not using a package manager or are not installing updates to already installed packages, of course. -- Dan Jenkins ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-624-7272 *** Technical Support for over a Quarter Century ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
The Fully Automatic Installer may be one approach: http://faifaq.andrew.net.au ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
On Sun, 2004-05-09 at 21:16, Kurth Bemis wrote: We have several servers, (OK lots of servers) that we use for hosting websites, mail servers, firewalls, and billing and provisioning. It's a real pain to ssh to each of the boxen and repeat the same process again and again to upgrade apache,php,mod_perl,mod_ssl, system files, etc. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a tool that will allow me to create one master machine or image that can then be duplicated to the other machines, so that all the machines are exact copies of each other. The config and users files are on separate partitions then the binaries so that's not an issue. The solution needs to scalable, as we are adding machines every other week it seems. I believe you want two solutions... Redhat Linux has something called kickstart which can be used to install clones, but configure them with things like separate IP addresses, ... This will solve the installation problem. The other problem is keeping things up to date... If Redhat would open source their up2date server, then you could use up2date. But they won't so you can't ;-( However, you could use something like Yum which uses rsync/web/ftp servers to fetch the updates from. More info is at http://linux.duke.edu/projects/yum/ --Bruce signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part
Re: Upgrading Multiple Servers?
On Sun, 2004-05-09 at 21:16, Kurth Bemis wrote: It's a real pain to ssh to each of the boxen and repeat the same process again and again to upgrade apache,php,mod_perl,mod_ssl, system files, etc. Why not use Bill Stearn's fanout? http://www.stearns.org/ Just run the command once and its executed on as many systems as you need. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a tool that will allow me to create one master machine or image that can then be duplicated to the other machines, so that all the machines are exact copies of each other. Try rsync-mirror, also located on Bill's site. HTH, Chris ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
